Etiwanda wins in OT, 58-57

Ellis hits two free throws to rally undefeated Eagles

Pete Marshall, Staff Writer

Article Launched: 12/20/2007 12:39:48 AM PST

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - Etiwanda High School boys basketball coach Dave Kleckner didn't know much about Renaissance Academy when he placed the tiny La Canada school on its schedule.

Renaissance Academy gave him more than he bargained for.

It wasn't until after a controversial call at the end of regulation that Etiwanda was finally able to pull out a 58-57 overtime victory over the visiting Wildcats in a thrilling nonleague game Wednesday night.

Erick Ellis made two free throws with 24.3 seconds left in overtime to give the Eagles (11-0) a 58-55 lead. Yader Combs' made a layup with nine seconds remaining for the Wildcats (9-2), but Renaissance never got the ball back.

"We knew they were very good and had several Division I prospects,"Kleckner said. "But their guard play was better than we expected. No. 3 (Josh Thomas) gave us a tough time."

Thomas, a senior, scored a game-high 16 points. He had Renaissance, a school of less than 100 students, who made the CIF-Southern Section Division III-A finals last year, poised to pull off the victory over the Division I-A Eagles.

The Wildcats led by as many as nine points in the third quarter (38-29), but two DeRonn Scott baskets in the final minute of the quarter pulled Etiwanda back to within 42-40 at the end of the third.

"Rather than being dejected, that was a little pick-me-up for us,"Kleckner said of the baskets at the end of the third quarter.

Etiwanda trailed for all but the final second of the fourth quarter.

Trailing 50-46, Tre Brewer (11 points) made a 3-pointer with 28.7 seconds left in regulation and was fouled. But he missed the free throw, leaving the Eagles a point short.

The Wildcats' Justin Cook (14 points) missed the front end of a one-and-one with 25.2 seconds left, giving Etiwanda a final chance.

That chance appeared to disappear when Brewer missed a shot in the final seconds, and Jordan Finn (14 points) grabbed the rebound.

He was fouled with 0.4 seconds remaining. The Renaissance bench thought it was a non-shooting foul. Since that was only the team's sixth foul Etiwanda would've still needed to inbound the ball.

But the officials ruled Finn was shooting, and gave him two free throws. Finn made the first and missed the second, sending the game into overtime.

"All the bad calls were coming from one official," Renaissance coach Sid Cooke said. "That was clearly not a shooting foul."

Kleckner, who initially didn't think any foul had been called because he didn't hear the whistle, disagreed with Cooke. "That's something we practice,"Kleckner said. "And I think he was going back up with it."

Etiwanda then made all six of its free-throw attempts in overtime, including two by Christian Katuala with 1:14 left, that gave the Eagles the lead for good, 54-53.

"I was proud of the way the kids came back,"Kleckner said. "And we made all of our free throws down the stretch."

The game came about in part because, as a freelance school, Renaissance is always looking for games to fill its schedule. Etiwanda had an open spot in its schedule and Kleckner said Renaissance was the best team willing to fill that spot.

"We're a small school and they're a great program," Cooke said. "They're one of the best in I-A."